Relay Dock and Base Station with Position Information Based Directional Wave Forming

ABSTRACT

A wireless communication system comprises a base station and one or more relay docks and transmits directional wave signals between components using high frequency waves, such as millimeter waves. A beam forming decision engine utilizes position information collected from one or more position or motion sensors of a user device to determine a direction in which to form a directional wave signal being transmitted between components of the wireless communication system.

PRIORITY DATA

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/136,144, filed Sep. 19, 2018, which claims benefit of priority toU.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/562,261, filed Sep. 22, 2017,which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

This disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems andtechniques for directing directional wave signals between components ofa wireless communication system.

Description of the Related Art

Wireless communication systems are increasingly widespread.Additionally, there exist numerous different wireless communicationtechnologies and standards. Some examples of wireless communicationstandards include IEEE 802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi, for example 802.11 ad and802.11 ay), IEEE 802.15 (WPAN), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), and others.

Furthermore, as applications and devices continue to require higherlevels of bandwidth for wireless communications, higher frequency wavesare being used to transmit more data. For example, IEEE 802.11 adprovides for gigabit per second speeds using 60 GHz frequency bandwaves. However, high frequency waves, such as 60 GHz waves, cannottypically penetrate walls or other solid structures. Also, suchhigh-frequency waves may have greater decay over a given distance thanlower frequency waves, such that a range of a transmitter transmittingsuch high-frequency waves may be reduced as compared to a transmittertransmitting lower frequency waves.

In some wireless communication systems using high-frequency waves, suchas 60 GHZ waves, beam forming techniques may be used to direct ahigh-frequency wave toward an intended receiver. However, if a clearline-of-sight is not available or an intended receiver is out of a rangeof the transmitter, such systems may not function properly.Additionally, if a line-of-sight of an established link between atransmitter and receiver becomes blocked, for example due to movement ofthe receiver or transmitter, such systems may lose communication fornon-trivial amounts of time while searching for a new link.

SUMMARY OF EMBODIMENTS

In some embodiments, a system includes a user device comprising anantennae array configured to transmit and receive directional wavesignals, a communication station comprising an antennae array configuredto transmit or receive directional wave signals, and one or more sensorsconfigured to detect a position of the user device. For example, in someembodiments, the one or more sensors configured to detect a position ofthe user device may include an inertial measurement unit (IMU) includedin the user device, a GPS system included in the user device, or otherpositioning and/or orientation systems included in the user device.Additionally, in some embodiments, the one or more sensors configured todetect a position of the user device may be separate from the userdevice. For example the one or more sensors may be cameras or othersensors in a room that detect a position of the user device. Also, insome embodiments, the communication station may be a base station thatcommunicates with the user device, or may be a relay dock that relayscommunications between a user device and a base station. The systemfurther includes a beam forming engine configured to receive positioninformation from the one or more sensors, wherein the positioninformation comprises a detected location or orientation of the userdevice. The beam forming engine is further configured to determine acurrent pose of the user device relative to the communication stationbased, at least in part, on the received position information and causea set of one or more antennas of the antennae array of the user deviceor a set of one or more antennas of the antennae array of thecommunication station to form one or more directional wave signalsbased, at least in part, on the determined current pose of the userdevice.

In some embodiments, a beam forming engine may be implemented inhardware, such as via a specially designed chip, such as an ASICdesigned to implement the beam forming engine. In some embodiments, abeam forming engine may be implemented in software as computerinstructions stored in a memory that when executed on one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to implement the beamforming engine. In some embodiments, a beam forming engine may beimplemented in a base station, a relay dock, a user device, or anycombination thereof.

In some embodiments, a method includes receiving, by a communicationstation, position information from one or more sensors, wherein theposition information indicates a location or orientation of a userdevice and determining a current pose of the user device relative to thecommunication station based, at least in part, on the received positioninformation. The method further comprises forming a beam comprisingdirectional wave signals directed at the user device based, at least inpart, on the current pose of the user device.

In some embodiments, a relay dock includes an antennae array configuredto transmit or receive directional wave signals and a beam formingengine. The beam forming engine may include program instructions thatwhen executed by one or more processors causes the one or moreprocessors to receive position information, wherein the positioninformation comprises a location or orientation of a user device. Thebeam forming engine may also include program instructions that cause theone or more processors to receive a signal from a base station, whereinthe signal is intended for the user device. The beam forming engine maycause a set of one or more antennas of the antennae array of the relaydock to form one or more directional wave signals directed at the userdevice based, at least in part, on the current pose of the user device,wherein the one or more directional wave signals communicate the signalreceived from the base station to the user device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates a wireless communication system comprising a basestation, a relay dock, and user devices, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating components of a relay dock,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2A illustrates a directional wave signal formed to direct a wavebeam in a first direction, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2B illustrates a directional wave signal formed to direct a wavebeam in another direction, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2C illustrates a directional wave signal formed to direct a wavebeam in an additional direction, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating components of a communicationstation, such as a base station or a relay dock, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 3B illustrates a wireless communication system that includes relaydocks with cameras or infrared sensors, according to some embodiments.

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate a user device that emits a light signal and relaydocks that include cameras or infrared sensors, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 5A is a block diagram illustrating components of a user device,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5B is a more detailed view of position/motion sensors of a userdevice, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a communication station forming adirectional wave signal based on received position information about auser device, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a communication station selectinga next relay dock or base station to be used to communicate with amoving user device, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates a wireless communication system comprising multiplebase stations and multiple cameras or infrared sensors, according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates a wireless communication system comprisingwall-mounted relay docks, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates a wireless communication system comprisingfloor-mounted relay docks, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example computer system that may be included in auser device, relay dock, or base station, according to some embodiments.

This specification includes references to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment.” The appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “inan embodiment” do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.Particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined inany suitable manner consistent with this disclosure.

“Comprising.” This term is open-ended. As used in the appended claims,this term does not foreclose additional structure or steps. Consider aclaim that recites: “An apparatus comprising one or more processor units. . . ” Such a claim does not foreclose the apparatus from includingadditional components (e.g., a network interface unit, graphicscircuitry, etc.).

“Configured To.” Various units, circuits, or other components may bedescribed or claimed as “configured to” perform a task or tasks. In suchcontexts, “configured to” is used to connote structure by indicatingthat the units/circuits/components include structure (e.g., circuitry)that performs those task or tasks during operation. As such, theunit/circuit/component can be said to be configured to perform the taskeven when the specified unit/circuit/component is not currentlyoperational (e.g., is not on). The units/circuits/components used withthe “configured to” language include hardware—for example, circuits,memory storing program instructions executable to implement theoperation, etc. Reciting that a unit/circuit/component is “configuredto” perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35U.S.C. § 112(f), for that unit/circuit/component. Additionally,“configured to” can include generic structure (e.g., generic circuitry)that is manipulated by software and/or firmware (e.g., an FPGA or ageneral-purpose processor executing software) to operate in manner thatis capable of performing the task(s) at issue. “Configure to” may alsoinclude adapting a manufacturing process (e.g., a semiconductorfabrication facility) to fabricate devices (e.g., integrated circuits)that are adapted to implement or perform one or more tasks.

“First,” “Second,” etc. As used herein, these terms are used as labelsfor nouns that they precede, and do not imply any type of ordering(e.g., spatial, temporal, logical, etc.). For example, a buffer circuitmay be described herein as performing write operations for “first” and“second” values. The terms “first” and “second” do not necessarily implythat the first value must be written before the second value.

“Based On.” As used herein, this term is used to describe one or morefactors that affect a determination. This term does not forecloseadditional factors that may affect a determination. That is, adetermination may be solely based on those factors or based, at least inpart, on those factors. Consider the phrase “determine A based on B.”While in this case, B is a factor that affects the determination of A,such a phrase does not foreclose the determination of A from also beingbased on C. In other instances, A may be determined based solely on B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Wireless communication systems using high-frequency waves maycommunicate large amounts of data between devices. For example,millimeter waves having wavelengths between 1 millimeter and 10millimeters (e.g. 30-300 GHz waves) may communicate data at rates at orgreater than 1 gigabyte per second. However, such waves may not be ableto penetrate walls or solid structures. Also, a user of a device sendingor receiving such high-frequency waves may block the waves bypositioning the user's body or a part of the user's body between atransmitter and receiver of the wave. In addition, a user of a devicesending or receiving such waves may move the device such that a solidstructure blocks a current link path between a transmitter and areceiver. Additionally, in multi-user systems other users may positionthemselves or other objects in a link path between a transmitter andreceiver of such high-frequency waves, such that a high-frequency waveis blocked by the other user or the other objects.

Often when a communication link path is established between atransmitter and receiver using a millimeter wave, such as between a userdevice and a base station, the transmitter and the receiver perform ascan or sweep operation to determine a best direction for thetransmitter to direct a millimeter wave that is directed to thereceiver, e.g. a best link path. For example, though millimeter wavesmay not penetrate walls or other solid structures, millimeter waves maybe reflected off of a wall, floor, ceiling etc. Thus, if a direct lineof sight is not available between a transmitter of a millimeter wave anda receiver, other link paths, such as those using a reflection off of asurface may be chosen as alternative link paths to a clear line-of-sightlink path.

Also, a transmitter of a millimeter wave may include an array ofantennae elements and a receiver may include an array of antennaeelements. In such systems, different combinations of sending andreceiving antennae elements and configurable parameters of such antennaeelements may be adjusted to form a directional wave signal between atransmitter and a receiver, e.g. a link path. Also, such systems maytest different combinations of antennae elements and configurableparameters of the antennae elements to determine a best link path from atransmitter to a receiver, such as a link path between a base stationand a user device. For example, a transmitter may determine a directionto transmit a millimeter wave that results in better reception of themillimeter wave at the receiver as compared to other directions. Suchscans or sweeps may be performed to initially establish a link pathbetween a transmitter of a millimeter wave and a receiver of themillimeter wave. Also, such scans or sweeps may be at least partiallyrepeated each time a current link path is obstructed and a new link pathis established. In many cases, such scans or sweeps may take anon-trivial amount of time to perform, and for many applicationsinterruptions in communication while such scans or sweeps are beingperformed may prevent the application from functioning properly. Forexample, when a link path is obstructed, data exchange between atransmitter and receiver, such as a user device and a base station, maybe interrupted until a scan or sweep is completed and a new link path isestablished between the transmitter and the receiver. Such interruptionsmay cause poor performance of an application operating on a user deviceand may negatively impact a user experience.

For example, in virtual reality or augmented reality applications, auser device may wirelessly communicate significant amounts of data witha base station using a millimeter wave. However, as the user moveswithin a space, such as a room, objects may block a current link pathbetween the user device and the base station. In such situations, theuser device or base station may perform a scan or sweep to identify anew link path (if available) or may lose communications between the userdevice and base station. However, even if a new link path is available,communication between the user device and the base station may stopwhile a scan or sweep is being performed to identify the new link path.This may cause a virtual reality or augmented reality scene beingdisplayed on the user device to freeze, or otherwise becomenon-responsive. Such interruptions may produce a negative userexperience. Also, in other applications, such as streaming video oraudio, such interruptions may cause a negative user experience.

In some embodiments, a wireless communication system may utilizeposition information about a user device relative to a communicationstation (e.g. a base station or a relay dock) to identify a link path,(e.g. a direction to transmit a millimeter wave) without performingscanning or sweeping operations, such as are performed in previoussystems, or may reduce an amount of scanning or sweeping that isperformed to identify a link path between a base station and a userdevice as compared to previous systems.

In some embodiments, position information about a user device may bereceived from one or more position sensors already included in the userdevice. For example, many user devices may include GPS systems, and/orinertial measurement units, such as gyroscopes and/or accelerometers,that collect position information about a current location ororientation of the user device. In some embodiments, such positioninformation may be used by applications such as a virtual realityapplication that adjusts a display scene based on a position ororientation of the user device. In some embodiments, such positioninformation collected by positon sensors of a user device may also beprovided to a beam forming decision engine to determine a link pathbetween a base station or relay dock and the user device.

In addition, in some embodiments, a wireless communication system mayinclude a base station and one or more relay docks positioned in a spacewith one or more user devices, wherein the relay docks provideadditional paths to the user device in addition to paths between theuser device and the base station. For example, if a structure blocks alink path between a user device and a base station, a relay dock may bepositioned such that a link path between the relay dock and the userdevice is not obstructed, despite the link path between the user deviceand the base station being obstructed. In some embodiments, a relay dockmay be positioned in a space at one or more locations that are lesslikely to be obstructed than a base station location. For example, insome embodiments, one or more relay docks may be mounted at an elevatedposition, such as on a wall or ceiling of a room. Also, in someembodiments, one or more relay docks may be mounted on a floor.

In some embodiments, a communication station, such as a relay dock orbase station, may further utilize position information about a userdevice to hand-off communications with the user device between a basestation and a relay dock or between relay docks. For example, in someembodiments, a beam forming decision engine may determine a direction oftravel of a user device or a predicted change in orientation of a userdevice and may predict a future location or future orientation of theuser device based on the determined direction of travel or the predictedorientation change. In some embodiments, a beam forming decision engine,may also identify a relay dock or a base station that has a link path tothe predicted future location or future orientation of the user devicethat is not obstructed. For example, a beam forming decision engine maydetermine a next communication link device (e.g. base station or relaydock) and a next communication link path from the next communicationlink device prior to losing a current communication link or prior to thecurrent communication link being degraded more than a threshold amount.In such embodiments, the beam forming decision engine may switchcommunications between the user device and a base station from a currentlink path to a new link path that utilizes a next relay dock or nextbase station. In some embodiments, such communication link changes maybe performed without performing a sweep or scan operation to identifythe next relay dock or the next base station. Also, in some embodiments,a beam forming decision engine may predict a future location of the userdevice relative to the next relay dock or the next base station, suchthat scanning or sweeping to identify a beam direction for a directionalwave signal to be transmitted from the next relay dock or base stationto the user device may be omitted or an amount of sweeping or scanningmay be reduced. For example, a beam forming decision engine may useposition information to determine how to form a beam directed at apredicted location or orientation of a user device without needing tosweep or scan for a link path to the user device at the predictedlocation or orientation. Thus, interruption time when changing linkpaths may be reduced or eliminated, which may improve applicationperformance and user experience.

In some embodiments, a relay dock may extend a range of a wirelesscommunication system. For example, in some embodiments, a relay dock mayinclude a signal filter, such as a band pass filter, and an amplifierthat amplifies a millimeter wave signal received from a transmittingdevice, such as a base station or another relay dock. Thus a relay dockmay extend a geographic range of a base station or other relay dockbeyond a geographic range of a wireless communication system without therelay dock, for example a base station.

FIG. 1A illustrates a wireless communication system comprising a basestation, a relay dock, and user devices, according to some embodiments.For example, wireless communication system 100 includes base station102, relay dock 104 and user devices 106, 108, 110, and 112.

In some embodiments, a wireless communication system, such as wirelesscommunication system 100, may provide wireless communications for avirtual reality or augmented reality system. For example, user devices106, 108, 110, and 112 may be virtual reality or augmented reality headmounted displays and may communicate with base station 102 to update ascene displayed on the head mounted displays. In some embodiments, userdevices may include other types of devices, such as tablets, phones,laptops, etc.

In some embodiments, user devices, such as user devices 106, 108, 110,and 112 and a base station, such as base station 102, may be in a commonroom, such as room 114. However, due to a position or orientation ofrespective ones of the user devices or the base station, a link path,such as a line of sight link path or a reflected link path, between auser device and a base station may be obstructed. For example in FIG.1A, the user of user device 108 has his back to base station 102 suchthat the user's body blocks a link path from base station 102 to userdevice 108. Also, other objects, such as furniture (e.g., a couch,chair, etc.) 116, may obstruct a reflective link path from user device108 to base station 102 via another surface, such as a floor of room114. As another example, users of user devices 106 and 112 are orientedsuch that the bodies of the users at least partially obstruct a linkpath between base station 102 and user devices 106 and 112.

In such situations, a relay dock, such as relay dock 104, may provide analternative link path to a user device that is not obstructed or thathas a clearer line of sight between a user device and the relay dock.For example, relay dock 104 provides a link path between relay dock 104and base station 102 that avoids furniture 116 and a link path fromrelay dock 104 to user device 108 that avoids furniture 116. Also,because relay dock 104 is mounted overhead, relay dock 104 may provide alink path that is less obstructed by the body of the user of user device108 than a link path between base station 102 and user device 108.

In some embodiments, user devices, such as user devices 106, 108, 110,and 112, may collect positon and orientation information about the userdevices and provide the position and/or orientation information to abase station or relay dock. For example, a user device may include a GPSsystem, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), or other position and/ororientation tracking sensors or systems that collect data about aposition or orientation of the user device, for example a position orlocation in room 114. In some embodiments, a beam forming decisionengine executing on a base station, relay dock, or a combinationthereof, may utilize position information received from a user device orfrom other sensors to determine a direction for a directional wavesignal to be transmitted from a base station or a relay dock to a userdevice and vice versa. For example, a beam forming decision engine mayreceive position information about user device 108 and may determinethat relay dock 104 has a clearer line of sight to user device 108 thanbase station 102. Additionally, a beam forming decision engine maydetermine a vector direction from a relay dock or base station, such asrelay dock 104, to a user device, such as user device 108. For example,a beam forming decision engine may receive position informationindicating a location and/or orientation of user device 108, for examplebehind and slightly to the side of relay dock 104, and may determine avector direction from relay dock 104 to user device 108 based on theposition information. In some embodiments, a beam forming decisionengine, may cause a beam forming element of an antennae array of a relaydock, base station, or user device, to form a directional wave signal,e.g. a beam, directed in the determined vector direction. For example, abeam forming decision engine may cause a beam former, such as beamformer 166, to adjust one or more antennae elements of an antennae arrayof a relay dock, such as relay dock 104, to form a directional wavesignal in a vector direction aimed at user device 108.

In some embodiments, a beam forming decision engine may determine a poseof a user device, wherein a pose comprises a location of the user devicein a space, such as room 114, and an orientation of the user device atthe location. For example, user device 108 is located behind furniture116 and orientated away from base station 102. Note that if the user ofuser device 108 were to turnaround, the user device would be located inthe same location, but would have a new pose with a differentorientation. Also note, that if that were the case, e.g. that the userof user device 108 were to turnaround and change the orientation of userdevice 108, it may affect which link path is selected to communicatewith user device 108. For example, if user device 108 were orientedtowards base station 102, a link path between base station 102 and userdevice 108 would no longer be obstructed by the body of the personwearing user device 108. Thus, in some embodiments, a beam formingdecision engine may determine a link path based on a pose that includesboth a location of a user device in a space and an orientation of theuser device at the location.

In some embodiments, a pose determined by a beam forming decision enginemay be updated as an orientation of a user device changes. The pose maybe updated based on position and/or orientation information that isprovided to the beam forming decision engine. For example, a gyroscopeincluded in user device 108 may collect orientation information and theorientation information may be provided to a beam forming decisionengine as the user of user device 108 turns around.

In some embodiments, a beam forming decision engine may anticipate afuture location or orientation of a user device and determine a nextlink path to communicate with the user device prior to a current linkpath becoming obstructed. For example, the user of user device 110 maybegin to turnaround to talk to the user of user device 106. In suchcircumstances, a position or orientation sensor of user device 106 maymeasure the motion of user device 110 and may provide updated positonand/or orientation information to a beam forming decision engine, forexample included in base station 102. The beam forming decision enginemay anticipate that the user of user device 110 is changing hisorientation away from base station 102, based on the received positioninformation and may select relay dock 104 as a next link path from basestation 102 to user device 110. Furthermore, in some embodiments, thebeam forming decision engine may use location and orientationinformation included in the position information to determine a vectordirection from relay dock 104 to user device 110 at the anticipatedorientation and location, such that relay dock 104 does not need toperform a scanning or sweeping operation to locate a link path fromrelay dock 104 to user device 110. In some embodiments, a relay dock,such as relay dock 104, may perform some scanning or sweeping to improvea link path between the relay dock and a user device, such as userdevice 110, but the scanning or sweeping may include fewer combinationsof antennae elements and/or configurations than would be required ifrelay dock 104 did not already know a vector direction of user device110 relative to relay dock 104. Because, position and/or orientationinformation is used by a beam forming decision engine to determine arelay dock and/or vector direction from the relay dock to a user device,a latency time for establishing a new or updated link path based onchanges in user location or orientation may be reduced. This is becauseless or no time may be spent sweeping or scanning to determine a new orupdated link path.

As discussed above, in some embodiments, a beam forming decision enginemay be implemented at a base station, at a relay dock, in anothersystem, such as a cloud computing system, or may have a distributedimplementation across multiple devices, such as a base station and arelay dock.

For example, FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating components of arelay dock 150 that includes a beam forming decision engine, accordingto some embodiments.

In FIG. 1B, relay dock 150 receives a directional wave signal 156 thatincludes signal information 154 and position information 152. Forexample, relay dock 150 may be a similar relay dock as relay dock 104and may receive a directional wave signal 156 from a base station, suchas base station 102. Also, a relay dock, such a relay dock 150, mayreceive a directional wave signal, such as directional wave signal 156,from a user device, such as user device 110, wherein the directionalwave signal comprises signal information, such as signal information154, and position information, such as position information 152.

In some embodiments, a relay dock may receive a directional wave signalvia an antennae receiver, such as antennae receiver 158, and transmitdirectional signal waves via an antennae transmitter, such as antennaetransmitter 168. Or, in some embodiments, a single antennae array of arelay dock may both receive and transmit directional wave signals.Additionally, in some embodiments, a relay dock may be connected to oneor more base stations in other ways, such as via a wired connection.

Signal information included in a directional wave signal, such asdirectional wave signal 156 received at antennae receiver 158, may befiltered via a filter of a relay dock, such as filter 162. A filter,such as filter 162, may include a bandpass filter that filters noise andother signals from signals at a particular frequency band, such as afrequency band of a millimeter wave. Additionally, a relay dock, such asrelay dock 150, may include a signal amplifier, such as signal amplifier164, that amplifies a signal.

In some embodiments, a relay dock, such as relay dock 150, may include abeam forming decision engine, that receives position informationincluded in a directional wave signal, such as position information 152included in directional wave signal 156. The position information mayinclude position information from a user device, such as a currentlocation and/or orientation of the user device. In some embodiments, theposition information may be received from a base station, wherein thebase station tracks the most recent location and/or orientation of auser device. The beam forming decision engine may determine a vectordirection from the base station to the user device based on the receivedposition information and may cause an antennae transmitter of the relaydock, such as antennae transmitter 168 of relay dock 150, to cause adirectional wave signal to be transmitted toward the user devicedirected in the determined vector direction. In some embodiments, a beamformer, such as beam former 166, may select particular antennae elementsof an antennae array to transmit the directional wave signal, such thatthe directional wave signal is directed in the determined vectordirection. Also, a beam former, such as beam former 166, may adjust oneor more other parameters of the antennae array elements, such as wavephase or amplitude to cause a transmitted directional wave signal to bedirected in the determined vector direction. For example, a beam former,such as beam former 166, may adjust array elements 172, 174, 176, 178,or 180 differently to direct a directional wave signal in a particulardirection, such as a determined vector direction. For example,directional wave signal 170 comprising signal information 154 may bedirected in a determined vector direction determined by beam formingdecision engine 160 based on position information 152 included indirectional wave signal 156 received by relay dock 150 via antennaereceiver 158.

For example, FIGS. 2A-2C illustrates directional wave signals formed todirect a wave beam in different directions, according to someembodiments. For example, a beam forming decision engine, such as beamforming decision engine 160, may cause a directional wave signal to bedirected in a first direction based on a particular set of positioninformation for a user device. For example, FIG. 2A shows an antennaearray 202 forming a beam 204 directed in a first vector direction. Asanother example, based on different sets of position information for auser device, a beam forming decision engine may cause directional wavesignals to be transmitted from a relay dock in other directions. Forexample, FIG. 2B illustrates antennae array 202 forming a beam 204directed in a different vector direction and FIG. 2C illustratesantennae array 202 forming a beam 204 directed in yet another vectordirection. Note, that while FIGS. 2A-2C have been illustrated in twodimensions for the sake of clarity, in some embodiments a directionalwave signal may form a three dimensional beam that is directed in aparticular direction in three-dimensional space determined to be adirection in which a user device is located.

In some embodiments, a beam forming decision engine, such as beamforming decision engine 160, described in FIG. 1B, may be included inother components of a wireless communication system, such as a basestation or user device.

For example, FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating components of acommunication station, such as a base station or a relay dock, accordingto some embodiments. Communication station 350, which may be a relaydock or a base station, includes an antennae receiver 158 and anantennae transmitter 168 similar to relay dock 150. Communicationstation 350 also includes a filter 162 and an amplifier 164 similar torelay dock 150. In addition, communication station 350 includes a beamforming decision engine 160 and beam former 166 similar to relay dock150.

In some embodiments a communication station, such as a relay dock or abase station, may additionally include a wired connection portconfigured to couple the communication station to another communicationstation, such as another base station or another relay dock. Forexample, communication station 350 includes port 308 that may be coupledto another base station or relay dock. In such embodiments, signalinformation such as signal information 154 and/or position informationsuch as position information 152 may be received by a communicationstation, such as communication station 350, via a wired connection, suchas a wire connected to port 308.

In some embodiments, a communication station, such as a relay dock orbase station, may include one or more sensors configured to track a userdevice's location and/or orientation. For example, communication station350 includes camera 302, infrared sensor 304, and one or more additionalsensors 306. In some embodiments, a beam forming decision engine, suchas beam forming decision engine 160, may receive information from one ormore sensors such as camera 302, infrared sensor 304, or additionalsensors 306 and may utilize the received information to determine a poseof a user device relative to the communication station. In someembodiments, a beam forming decision engine may receive information fromsensors coupled to the communication station in addition to or in placeof receiving position information from a user device, base station, orother relay dock.

For example, FIG. 3B illustrates a wireless communication system thatincludes relay docks with cameras or infrared sensors, according to someembodiments. Room 314 illustrated in FIG. 3B includes relay docks 316,318, 320, and 322 mounted at elevated positions in room 314, such thatcameras, such as camera 302, infrared sensors, such as IR sensor 304, orsuch that other sensors, such as additional sensors 306, may trackusers, such as users 324, 326, 328, and 330 in room 314. In someembodiments, the sensors included in relay docks 316, 318, 320, and 322may determine a location of a user in room 314, an orientation of a userrelative to a base station or relay dock, or both. In some embodiments,sensors may be separate from a relay dock or base station, but may becoupled to the relay dock or base station via a wired or wirelessconnection. For example, in some embodiments a camera, IR sensor, oradditional sensor may be mounted in a room separate from a relay dockand may be coupled to the relay dock or a base station, for example viaa wired connection. In other embodiments, such sensors may be includedin a relay dock or base station.

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate a user device that emits a light signal and relaydocks that include cameras or infrared sensors, according to someembodiments.

In some embodiments, in which infrared sensors, cameras, or othersensors are used to determine a location of a user device or anorientation of a user device, a user device may include an emitter thatemits a light signal, such as an infrared signal or a laser signal thata sensor, such as an IR sensor or other type of sensor may detect todetermine an orientation or location of the user device.

For example, user device 408 being worn by user 402 may emit one or morelight signals. For example, in some embodiments, light signal 410 may bea different signal than light signal 412 and 414, and vice versa foreach of light signals 410, 412, and 414. Thus, a beam forming decisionengine of a relay dock or a base station, may determine an orientationof a user device based on a light signal received by a sensor, such assensor 406. For example, a beam forming decision engine may determinethat user 402 is looking upwards based on light signal 412 beingreceived at sensor 406, and may determine that user 40 is lookingstraight ahead based on light signal 410 being received at sensor 406.Additionally, a beam forming decision engine may determine that user 408is facing to the left based on sensor 406 detecting a light signal, andmay determine that user 402 is facing towards the right based on sensor404 detecting a light signal, as shown in FIG. 4C. In some embodiments,additional sensors, may be included in a room, as shown in FIG. 3B, anda beam forming decision engine may determine an orientation of a userbased on which sensor is detecting a light signal and which light signalthe sensor is detecting of a plurality of light signals emitted from auser device.

FIG. 5A is a block diagram illustrating components of a user device,according to some embodiments. While a user device may include severalother additional components, for the sake of clarity, such additionalcomponents have been omitted from FIG. 5A, such that at least somecomponents of a user device related to beam forming may be discussed.User device 514 includes an antennae transmitter array 502 and anantennae receiver 512. In some embodiments, an antennae receiver and anantennae transmitter may be included in a common antennae array or suchfunctions, e.g. transmitting and receiving, may be performed via acommon antenna. In some embodiments, a user device, such as user device514, may include a beam former, such as beam former 504, configured toadjust one or more parameters of antennae array elements to direct adirectional wave signal in a determined vector direction. In someembodiments, a user device, such as user device 514, may also include abeam forming decision engine, such as beam forming decision engine 506.In some embodiments, a beam forming decision engine of a user device,such as beam forming decision engine 506, may determine a vectordirection for a receiving device that is to receive a directional wavesignal beaming transmitted from the user device, and may cause a beamformer, such as beam former 504, to cause a directional wave signal tobe transmitted in the determined direction. In some embodiments, a beamforming decision engine of a user device may receive positioninformation from motion/position sensors of a user device, such asmotion/position sensors 508.

In some embodiments, position information, such as location and/ororientation information about a user device, such as user device 514,may also be included in a directional wave signal being transmitted fromthe user device. For example, motion/position information frommotion/position sensors 508 may be included with other data from otheruser device applications that is being communicated from the userdevice. Additionally, in some embodiments, other applications of a userdevice, such as user device applications 510, may utilizemotion/position information from motion/position sensors of a userdevice, such as motion/position sensors 508, to perform various tasks.

FIG. 5B is a more detailed view of position/motion sensors of a userdevice, according to some embodiments. Motion/position sensors 508include motion sensors 550, position component 552, and camera 554. Insome embodiments, a position component, such as position component 552may include a GPS component, or other suitable positioning system.

In some embodiments, a motion sensor, such as motion sensor 550, mayinclude an, accelerometer, such as accelerometer 562 aligned with aZ-axis and configured to measure acceleration in the Z-direction, anaccelerometer, such as accelerometer 564 aligned with a X-axis andconfigured to measure acceleration in the X-direction, and anaccelerometer, such as accelerometer 566 aligned with a Y-axis andconfigured to measure acceleration in the Y-direction. In addition, amotion sensor, such as motion sensors 550, may include a gyroscope, suchas gyroscope 568 configured to measure angular motion (P) about theZ-axis, a gyroscope, such as gyroscope 570 configured to measure angularmotion (A) about the X-axis, and a gyroscope, such as gyroscope 572configured to measure angular motion ((p) about the Y-axis. In someembodiments, motion sensors, such as motion sensors 550 may includeadditional sensors such as magnetometers, pressure sensors, temperaturesensors, etc. The accelerometers and gyroscopes, such as accelerometers562, 564, and 566, and gyroscopes 568, 570, and 572, may measure bothtranslation motion and angular motion in multiple directions and aboutmultiple axis. Such measurements may be used by one or more processorsto determine motion of an object mechanically coupled to the motionsensors in three-dimensional space, such as a location or orientation ofa user device in three-dimensional space.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a communication station forming adirectional wave signal based on received position information about auser device, according to some embodiments.

At 602, a communication station, such as a relay dock or base station,receives position information about a location and/or orientation of auser device. For example, the position information may include GPScoordinates from a GPS system, accelerometer data from an accelerometerof a user device, orientation information from a gyroscope of a userdevice, and/or other types of position information. In some embodiments,a user device may determine a location and orientation based on sensorsincluded in the user device and may provide the output of suchdeterminations to a communication station as position information.

At 604, a beam forming decision engine of a communication stationdetermines a pose of the user device relative to one or morecommunication stations such as a base station and a relay dock.

At 606 the beam forming decision engine selects a communication station,such as a base station or a relay dock with a more direct link path tothe user device. In some embodiments, a beam forming decision engine at606 may further take into account interference between signals beingsent to other user devices when selecting a directional wave signal tobe sent to the user device. For example in a multi-user environment,directional wave signals may be sent to multiple user devices located ina common space, such as a room. In such situations, a beam formingdecision engine may consider signal paths of other directional wavesignals being sent to other user devices in the space when selecting arelay dock. In some embodiments, a beam forming decision engine mayforego selecting a relay dock with a most direct link path between therelay dock and a user device and instead select a relay dock with a nextmost direct link path in order to avoid interference with otherdirectional wave signals.

At 608, the selected relay dock forms a directional wave signal (e.g. amillimeter wave beam) directed to the user device. Also, the user devicemay form a directional wave signal (e.g. a millimeter wave beam)directed at the selected relay device. In either case, a beam formingdecision engine may use position information for the user devicerelative to the selected relay dock to determine vector directions forthe directional waves that are sent between the user device and therelay dock. The determined vector directions may be used by a beamformer of the respective devices to form a beam directed toward therecipient device without performing a sweep or scan to determine a bestdirection for transmitting the directional wave. In some embodiments,some scanning or sweeping may be performed to refine a directional wavesignal, but the sweeping or scanning time required may be significantlyreduced as compared to sweeping or scanning times of previous systems,because a vector direction for the directional wave is pre-determinedprior to the sweeping or scanning.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a communication station selectinga next relay dock or base station to be used to communicate with amoving user device, according to some embodiments.

In some embodiments, a beam forming decision engine may anticipate afuture location or orientation of a user device based on a direction oftravel of the user device or a direction of orientation change of theuser device.

For example, at 702, a beam forming decision engine receives positioninformation about a user device at two or more points in time.

At 704, the beam forming decision engine determines a direction oftravel of the user device or a direction of orientation change of theuser device based on position information at the two or more points intime. For example, if a user wearing a user device is walking across aroom from left to right, position information across multiple points intime may indicate a velocity in a given direction, such as from left toright across the room, and a beam forming decision engine may determinethat the user is likely to continue in the direction from left to rightacross the room for at least some amount of time. Based on thedetermined direction of travel or direction of orientation change of theuser device, at 706, the beam forming decision engine may determine anext relay dock or base station to provide a link path to the userdevice if the direction of travel or the direction of orientation changecontinues as predicted.

At 708, the beam forming decision engine may continue to monitor asignal strength of a current link path between the user device and acurrent communication station, such as a relay dock or base station,that is communicating with the user device via the current link path. Ifthe signal strength of the current link path remains above a thresholdsignal strength level, the beam forming decision engine may continue touse the currently selected communication station, e.g. relay dock orbase station, and the current link path from the current communicationstation to communicate with the user device. However, if the signalstrength of the current link path falls below the threshold signalstrength, at 710, the beam forming decision engine may determine whethera link path to the user device using the next selected base station orrelay dock has a greater signal strength than the current link path. Ifthe signal strength of a link path from a next selected relay dock orbase station is less than a signal strength of the current link path,the beam forming decision engine may continue to use the current linkpath to communicate with the user device. However, at 712 if a link pathusing the next selected relay dock or base station has a greater signalstrength than the current link path the beam forming decision engine mayseamlessly hand over communications to the user device from thecurrently selected relay dock or base station to the next selected relaydock or base station. Such a procedure may reduce latencies during handoffs between relay docks and/or base stations because a next relay dockor base station is pre-selected prior to a link path being lost. Also,in some embodiments, a vector direction from a next selected relay dockor base station to a user device may be determined by a beam formingdecision engine prior to a current link path being lost. Thus, not onlyis time to establish a new link path subsequent to a loss of a link pathreduced by not needing to test different relay docks to select a nextrelay dock after a link path is lost, but the time is also reduced bynot requiring a selected relay dock to perform scanning or sweeping todetermine a direction in which to form a beam.

FIG. 8 illustrates a wireless communication system comprising multiplebase stations and multiple cameras or infrared sensors, according tosome embodiments.

In some embodiments, multiple base stations, such as base stations 802,804, 806, and 808 in room 800 may share multiple relay docks, such asrelay docks 810, 812, 814, and 816. In some embodiments, relay docks,such as relay docks 810, 812, 814, and 816, may include sensors such ascameras or IR sensors and may share collected position information aboutuser devices with multiple base stations, such as base stations 802,804, 806, and 808. Also, in some embodiments, beam forming decisionengines of base stations, such as base stations 802, 804, 806, and 808,may coordinate with one another and may hand-off users as the users movebetween areas covered by the different base stations. For example, ifone of the user devices closest to base station 804 were to be moved tobe closer to base station 808, base station 804 may hand over the userdevice to base station 808 to manage.

In some embodiments, relay docks may be located in various positions ina room to achieve unobstructed lines-of-sight with users depending onroom configurations and other parameters.

For example, FIG. 9 illustrates a wireless communication systemcomprising wall-mounted relay docks, according to some embodiments. InFIG. 9, relay docks 902, 904, and 906 are mounted on walls of room 900.

As another example, FIG. 10 illustrates a wireless communication systemcomprising floor-mounted relay docks, according to some embodiments. InFIG. 10, relay docks 1002, 1004, 1006, and 1008 are mounted on floor1010 of room 1000.

In some embodiments, relay docks may be mounted in a combination oflocations. For example in a large room, such as an auditorium, relaydocks may be mounted on side walls, a ceiling of the auditorium, and onthe floor of the auditorium. In some embodiments, various othercombinations of mounting locations may be used for relay docks and/orbase stations.

Example Computer System

FIG. 11 illustrates an example computer system 1100 that may implement abase station, relay dock, user device or any other ones of thecomponents described herein, (e.g., any of the components describedabove with reference to FIGS. 1-10), in accordance with someembodiments. The computer system 1100 may be configured to execute anyor all of the embodiments described above. In different embodiments,computer system 1100 may be any of various types of devices, including,but not limited to, a personal computer system, desktop computer,laptop, notebook, tablet, slate, pad, or netbook computer, mainframecomputer system, handheld computer, workstation, network computer, acamera, a set top box, a mobile device, a consumer device, video gameconsole, handheld video game device, application server, storage device,a television, a video recording device, a peripheral device such as aswitch, modem, router, or in general any type of computing or electronicdevice.

Various embodiments of a beam forming decision engine, relay dock, basestation, user device or other components of a wireless communicationsystem, as described herein may be executed in one or more computersystems 1100, which may interact with various other devices. Note thatany component, action, or functionality described above with respect toFIGS. 1-10 may be implemented on one or more computers configured ascomputer system 1100 of FIG. 11, according to various embodiments. Inthe illustrated embodiment, computer system 1100 includes one or moreprocessors 1110 coupled to a system memory 1120 via an input/output(I/O) interface 1130. Computer system 1100 further includes a networkinterface 1140 coupled to I/O interface 1130, and one or moreinput/output devices 1150, such as cursor control device 1160, keyboard1170, and display(s) 1180. In some cases, it is contemplated thatembodiments may be implemented using a single instance of computersystem 1100, while in other embodiments multiple such systems, ormultiple nodes making up computer system 1100, may be configured to hostdifferent portions or instances of embodiments. For example, in oneembodiment some elements may be implemented via one or more nodes ofcomputer system 1100 that are distinct from those nodes implementingother elements.

In various embodiments, computer system 1100 may be a uniprocessorsystem including one processor 1110, or a multiprocessor systemincluding several processors 1110 (e.g., two, four, eight, or anothersuitable number). Processors 1110 may be any suitable processor capableof executing instructions. For example, in various embodimentsprocessors 1110 may be general-purpose or embedded processorsimplementing any of a variety of instruction set architectures (ISAs),such as the x86, PowerPC, SPARC, or MIPS ISAs, or any other suitableISA. In multiprocessor systems, each of processors 1110 may commonly,but not necessarily, implement the same ISA.

System memory 1120 may be configured to store instructions 1122 and/orposition information accessible by processor 1110. In variousembodiments, system memory 1120 may be implemented using any suitablememory technology, such as static random access memory (SRAM),synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), nonvolatile/Flash-type memory, or anyother type of memory. In some embodiments, program instructions and/ordata may be received, sent or stored upon different types ofcomputer-accessible media or on similar media separate from systemmemory 1120 or computer system 1100. While computer system 1100 isdescribed as implementing the functionality of functional blocks ofprevious Figures, any of the functionality described herein may beimplemented via such a computer system.

In one embodiment, I/O interface 1130 may be configured to coordinateI/O traffic between processor 1110, system memory 1120, and anyperipheral devices in the device, including network interface 1140 orother peripheral interfaces, such as input/output devices 1150. In someembodiments, I/O interface 1130 may perform any necessary protocol,timing or other data transformations to convert data signals from onecomponent (e.g., system memory 1120) into a format suitable for use byanother component (e.g., processor 1110). In some embodiments, I/Ointerface 1130 may include support for devices attached through varioustypes of peripheral buses, such as a variant of the Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (PCI) bus standard or the Universal Serial Bus (USB)standard, for example. In some embodiments, the function of I/Ointerface 1130 may be split into two or more separate components, suchas a north bridge and a south bridge, for example. Also, in someembodiments some or all of the functionality of I/O interface 1130, suchas an interface to system memory 1120, may be incorporated directly intoprocessor 1110.

Network interface 1140 may be configured to allow data to be exchangedbetween computer system 1100 and other devices attached to a network1185 (e.g., carrier or agent devices) or between nodes of computersystem 1100. Network 1185 may in various embodiments include one or morenetworks including but not limited to Local Area Networks (LANs) (e.g.,an Ethernet or corporate network), Wide Area Networks (WANs) (e.g., theInternet), wireless data networks, some other electronic data network,or some combination thereof. In various embodiments, network interface1140 may support communication via wired or wireless general datanetworks, such as any suitable type of Ethernet network, for example;via telecommunications/telephony networks such as analog voice networksor digital fiber communications networks; via storage area networks suchas Fibre Channel SANs, or via any other suitable type of network and/orprotocol.

Input/output devices 1150 may, in some embodiments, include one or moredisplay terminals, keyboards, keypads, touchpads, scanning devices,voice or optical recognition devices, or any other devices suitable forentering or accessing data by one or more computer systems 1100.Multiple input/output devices 1150 may be present in computer system1100 or may be distributed on various nodes of computer system 1100. Insome embodiments, similar input/output devices may be separate fromcomputer system 1100 and may interact with one or more nodes of computersystem 1100 through a wired or wireless connection, such as over networkinterface 1140.

As shown in FIG. 11, memory 1120 may include program instructions 1122,which may be processor-executable to implement any element or actiondescribed above. In one embodiment, the program instructions mayimplement the methods described above. In other embodiments, differentelements and data may be included. Note that data may include any dataor information described above.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that computer system 1100 ismerely illustrative and is not intended to limit the scope ofembodiments. In particular, the computer system and devices may includeany combination of hardware or software that can perform the indicatedfunctions, including computers, network devices, Internet appliances,PDAs, wireless phones, pagers, etc. Computer system 1100 may also beconnected to other devices that are not illustrated, or instead mayoperate as a stand-alone system. In addition, the functionality providedby the illustrated components may in some embodiments be combined infewer components or distributed in additional components. Similarly, insome embodiments, the functionality of some of the illustratedcomponents may not be provided and/or other additional functionality maybe available.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that, while various itemsare illustrated as being stored in memory or on storage while beingused, these items or portions of them may be transferred between memoryand other storage devices for purposes of memory management and dataintegrity. Alternatively, in other embodiments some or all of thesoftware components may execute in memory on another device andcommunicate with the illustrated computer system via inter-computercommunication. Some or all of the system components or data structuresmay also be stored (e.g., as instructions or structured data) on acomputer-accessible medium or a portable article to be read by anappropriate drive, various examples of which are described above. Insome embodiments, instructions stored on a computer-accessible mediumseparate from computer system 1100 may be transmitted to computer system1100 via transmission media or signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals, conveyed via a communication mediumsuch as a network and/or a wireless link. Various embodiments mayfurther include receiving, sending or storing instructions and/or dataimplemented in accordance with the foregoing description upon acomputer-accessible medium. Generally speaking, a computer-accessiblemedium may include a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium ormemory medium such as magnetic or optical media, e.g., disk orDVD/CD-ROM, volatile or non-volatile media such as RAM (e.g. SDRAM, DDR,RDRAM, SRAM, etc.), ROM, etc. In some embodiments, a computer-accessiblemedium may include transmission media or signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals, conveyed via a communication mediumsuch as network and/or a wireless link.

The methods described herein may be implemented in software, hardware,or a combination thereof, in different embodiments. In addition, theorder of the blocks of the methods may be changed, and various elementsmay be added, reordered, combined, omitted, modified, etc. Variousmodifications and changes may be made as would be obvious to a personskilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. The variousembodiments described herein are meant to be illustrative and notlimiting. Many variations, modifications, additions, and improvementsare possible. Accordingly, plural instances may be provided forcomponents described herein as a single instance. Boundaries betweenvarious components, operations and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,and particular operations are illustrated in the context of specificillustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality areenvisioned and may fall within the scope of claims that follow. Finally,structures and functionality presented as discrete components in theexample configurations may be implemented as a combined structure orcomponent. These and other variations, modifications, additions, andimprovements may fall within the scope of embodiments as defined in theclaims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a user device comprising anantennae array configured to transmit or receive directional wavesignals; a relay dock comprising an antennae array configured totransmit and receive directional wave signals; one or more sensorsconfigured to detect a position of the user device; and a beam formingengine configured to: receive position information from the one or moresensors, wherein the position information comprises a detected locationor orientation of the user device; determine a current pose of the userdevice relative to the relay dock based, at least in part, on thereceived position information; and cause a set of one or more antennasof the antennae array of the user device or a set of one or moreantennas of the antennae array of the relay dock to form one or moredirectional wave signals based, at least in part, on the determinedcurrent pose of the user device.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein theone or more sensors comprise a camera, an accelerometer, or a gyroscopeincluded in the user device.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the oneor more sensors comprise a camera or an infrared sensor coupled with therelay dock.
 4. The system of claim 1, further comprising one or moreadditional relay docks and a base station in communication with the userdevice via at least one of the relay docks, wherein respective ones ofthe relay docks are configured to: receive a signal from the basestation; and cause a set of one or more antennas of an antennae array ofthe relay dock to form one or more directional wave signals directed atthe user device based, at least in part, on the current pose of the userdevice wherein the one or more directional wave signals relayinformation received from the base station to the user device.
 5. Thesystem of claim 4, wherein at least one of the relay docks comprises: asignal filter; and a signal amplifier, wherein the signal filter isconfigured to filter the signal received from the base station fromother signals or noise, and wherein the signal amplifier is configuredto amplify the filtered signal.
 6. The system of claim 4, wherein thesystem comprise a plurality of relay docks, wherein the beam formingengine is further configured to: select a relay dock from among theplurality of relay docks to relay the signal to the user device based,at least in part, on the position information of the user device; andinclude the determined pose of the user device with a signal beingcommunicated from the base station to the selected relay dock.
 7. Thesystem of claim 6, wherein the beam forming engine is further configuredto: determine a direction of travel of the user device based, at leastin part, on one or more sets of position information for the user at oneor more points in time; and select another relay dock as a next relaydock to receive the signal being communicated from the base stationbased, at least in part, on the determined direction of travel.
 8. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising a base station comprising anantennae array configured to transmit and receive directional wavesignals wherein the beam forming engine is further configured to: causea set of one or more antennas of the antennae array of the base stationto form one or more directional wave signals based, at least in part, onthe determined current pose of the user device.
 9. A method comprising:receiving, by a communication station, position information from one ormore sensors, wherein the position information indicates a location ororientation of a user device; determining a current pose of the userdevice relative to a relay dock based, at least in part, on the receivedposition information; and forming a beam comprising directional wavesignals directed at the user device based, at least in part, on thecurrent pose of the user device.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein theuser device is a head-mounted display or hand-held device.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the one or more sensors are included in theuser device, and wherein the position information from the one or moresensors is additionally used by one or more other applications executingat least in part on the user device.
 12. The method of claim 9, whereinthe directional wave signals comprise waves having a wavelength betweenapproximately one millimeter and approximately ten millimeters.
 13. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising: selecting the relay dock fromamong a plurality of relay docks to relay the signal to the user devicebased, at least in part, on the current pose of the user device, whereinsaid forming the beam is performed by the selected relay dock.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, further comprising: forming, by a base station, abeam comprising directional wave signals directed at the selected relaydock.
 15. A relay dock comprising: an antennae array configured totransmit or receive directional wave signals; and a beam forming engineconfigured to: receive position information, wherein the positioninformation comprises a location or orientation of a user device;receive a signal from a base station, wherein the signal is intended forthe user device; and cause a set of one or more antennas of the antennaearray of the relay dock to form one or more directional wave signalsdirected at the user device based, at least in part, on the current poseof the user device, wherein the one or more directional wave signalscommunicate the signal received from the base station to the userdevice.
 16. The relay dock of claim 15, further comprising: a cameraconfigured to detect the position information of the user device. 17.The relay dock of claim 15, further comprising: one or more infraredsensors configured to detect infrared light emitted by the user device,wherein the location or orientation of the user device of the positioninformation is determined based, at least in part, on the detectedinfrared light.
 18. The relay dock of claim 15, wherein the relay dockcomprises: an interface configured to couple with a wired connection toa base station, wherein the relay dock is configured to receive thesignal from the base station via the wired connection.
 19. The relaydock of claim 15, wherein the relay dock receives the positioninformation from one or more sensors of the user device.
 20. The relaydock of claim 15, further comprising: a signal filter; and a signalamplifier, wherein the signal filter is configured to filter the signalreceived from the base station, and wherein the signal amplifier isconfigured to amplify the filtered signal.